The Wolf Pack teams dribbling passing, taking it to the hoop.
They're prepared and ready to dance in tonight's big game.
So are the fans.
They're fired up and ready to cheer their team on.
How the team's preparing, what fans are anticipating is all in tonight's Channel 2 News Big Story.
Hello everybody, I'm Bill Brown.
And I'm Kristen Walters.
The stakes are higher than ever as the Nevada Wolf Pack basketball team gets ready to hit
the hardwood in St. Louis.
They're playing Georgia Tech tonight in the St. Louis Regional Semifinals for a spot,
of course, in the Elite Eight.
Fans are all anticipating a big win here with an expected crowd of more than 30,000.
And the Wolf Pack may be feeling the pressure.
That's true.
And we are live in St. Louis.
J.K.
Metzger and Garrett Dearborn are there with the pregame highlights.
What's going on, guys?
Well, you guys, everybody getting fired up for the big game, which is not too far away.
Nevada and Georgia Tech, you talk about a lot of fans are expecting maybe 35,000 for
this one.
Yeah, somewhere in that area.
It's going to be a good game.
It should be another hard game for the Wolf Pack, as you see.
They're the underdogs once again.
And Georgia Tech and Nevada, it's the first two times these teams have ever met.
Now, yesterday, the Wolf Pack got in a little bit of practice time at the Edward Jones Dome,
which is behind us here in St. Louis.
But tonight, this place is going to be packed, like I said, expecting 35,000, maybe even
40,000.
The guys told me while they still have some nerves, they are getting used to a couple
of things, pressure and being the underdog.
They're going to taste both again tonight as they look for their third straight upset
in the tourney.
Taking on Georgia Tech, a number three seed and the 14th ranked team in the nation.
Taking it like any other game, you know, just trying to stay relaxed, stay focused.
And, you know, when we get out there, we'll play as hard as we can and hopefully come
away with it.
Any chance you would overlook a team like Nevada, haven't seen what they've done already?
Definitely not.
You know, they've sent two great teams home already.
You know, you don't want to be a third.
And for that not to happen, I think you've got to go out there and play your possession
like it's your last.
And we're a long way from home, but a lot of Wolf Pack fans did make the trip.
A lot of absolutely miserable weather out here.
Thunder, lightning, been pouring all day.
You know what, though, wasn't dampening any of their spirits today.
We caught up with a few Wolf Pack fans outside of the Edward Jones Dome this afternoon.
Miserable day out there, but it didn't matter.
Fans paying anywhere between $550 and $700 to fly down on such short notice.
Some lucky enough to stay downtown, some as far as 30 miles away.
But you know what?
They say with an opportunity like this, it doesn't come around every day.
Duh.
Well, it was kind of difficult.
We weren't sure if we were going to come down until Sunday night.
Sunday morning we saw plane tickets.
Between the morning and night, they went up $80.
We said, heck with it.
Get down here.
Enjoy the festivities down here.
Aren't you supposed to be in school?
Yeah, but who cares?
It's the NCAA tournament.
It's the best thing of the year.
You've got a lot of jealous friends right now, huh?
Yeah, a lot of them.
In fact, they're having a big deal tonight at one of the guys' house.
And now we're all supposed to be there.
So they're pretty jealous.
So hopefully it'll get the wave at them.
Want to give them a ha ha ha?
Hey, guys.
Ha ha.
You're missing it.
Good stuff.
Ha ha ha.
We're here too.
That's right.
All right.
Things not too far away.
Alabama, Birmingham, and Kansas are going to go first.
Then it's Nevada and Georgia Tech.
We'll have more on the big game coming up a little bit later on in sports.
Live in St. Louis, Garrett Dearborn, J.K. Metzger.
Back to you guys.
All right.
Thanks, guys.
And don't forget, all you Wolf Pack fans can catch the game right here on Channel 2.
Tipoff is at 6.40 for the big game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
And then be sure to tune in for a special edition of Channel 2 News After the Game,
where you can catch all the highlights.
And if you missed our special last night on how the Wolf Pack made it to the Sweet 16,
don't worry.
Syncat is showing Nevada Wolf Pack how sweet it is all day today on Charter Cable Channel 14.
Well, students and fans who couldn't make the trip to St. Louis are preparing here at home
for all the excitement.
Everyone seems to want a piece of the Nevada Dream Team,
as the bookstore and the Student Union look more like a zoo today.
Our Nicole Chavez joins us live from the University of Nevada.
Nicole, Nevada Apparel flying off the bookstore shelves as excitement builds up.
The campus bookstore was swarming with eager fans.
Grabbing for anything blue today,
the Student Union is also preparing for a big fan turnout for the big game.
I've had a t-shirt on already today, so I'm wearing my blue, starting off the day right.
Lawrence wasn't the only Wolf Pack fan who wanted to start the day off right.
Fans can't seem to get enough big blue memorabilia.
Wolf Pack signs, balloons, the whole nine yards can be seen throughout the Student Union,
where the game will be shown on a big screen and multiple TVs.
Have the student bookstore staff there say Nevada students and fans lined up
beginning at 6.45 this morning just to get their hands on the Sweet 16 t-shirts
that were shipped in at 10 a.m.
It only took about two hours before the 4,000 shirts sold out,
but bookstore manager Tom Davies says it's not just those shirts
that have Wolf Pack fans howling for more.
My staff were all kind of chuckling a little because we said,
we've got things that have been around for a while that nobody,
and now they're all gone because they were blue.
And they said Nevada, or they said Wolf Pack on them.
Davies says not to worry.
All-new Nevada memorabilia will be shipped in next week.
Covering the story live at UNR, Nicole Chavez, Channel 2 News.
A fundraising basketball game that was supposed to take place today has been rescheduled.
Trainer Middle School will now host their annual March Madness fundraiser basketball game on April 23rd.
Officers from the Reno Police Department will be playing against the highly skilled athletes
of Trainer Middle School.
They're inviting the entire community to get involved in the event.
There will be raffle prizes awarded during every quarter of the game.
All right, Mike Alger is back. He's in the weather center.
He joins us first. Look at the forecast, Mike. Kind of cloudy, kind of cool.
Kind of cloudy, kind of cool, but I don't think it's going to be kind of raining or snowing on us anymore.
Looks like we got our real big shot with the main frontal passage
that pushed on by to us to the east here overnight last night.
We've got another secondary one coming in off the coastline here.
Right now, it appears like that one is probably going to just miss us to the north.
You can see the clouds coming across here.
There's a pretty good little shot of jet stream.
The mountains may see a few flurries tonight, but in terms of precipitation,
most of that seems to want to stay up in northern California.
In fact, if we take a look at what the computer models are saying about it,
precipitation starting about 10 o'clock this morning, quite a ways up there to the northwest of us.
It's going to creep up here and just maybe get almost into the western slopes
probably sometime early tomorrow morning, and then it's all going to retreat up to the north,
pass by over there to the north of us, and by Sunday, most of the west coast is going to be dry,
and it looks like we're going to be included in that with plenty of sunshine coming up.
I'll have more details on that coming up here with a complete forecast in about five minutes.
Thanks, Mike. See you then.
Well, death row inmate Lawrence Colwell Jr. may seek a stay of execution at the 11th hour.
Colwell is scheduled to die at 9 o'clock tonight for the 1994 murder of Las Vegas tourists.
Only now, he's requested an unscheduled meeting with his public defender.
Our Matt Johnson is live from the Nevada State Prison with more. Matt, what's the latest?
Kristen Colwell has been moved from the maximum security wing of the prison to a holding cell
where he's now talking to his public defender who just flew up from Las Vegas,
all at the same time while knowing he has less than six hours from his scheduled execution.
Parents of death row inmate Lawrence Colwell Jr. left the prison gates this morning in tears.
The result of an emotional last goodbye.
Only now, a last minute twist in events indicates Colwell could be seeking a stay.
Colwell himself could stop it. If he says, I want to stop it, I want to talk to my attorney,
we'll get that attorney on the phone.
Colwell's attorney was flown up from Vegas to meet with him after a four-hour conversation on the phone.
That conversation was granted after prison officials noticed Colwell to be in a different state of mind.
Last night when we talked to him, he was more animated, he was more talkative,
and this morning he was a little more introspective and a little quieter.
Colwell has not yet put in for a stay of execution.
So at nine tonight, he'll be taken to the old gas chamber and strapped onto a table in front of six to nine witnesses.
Among those expected to be present, the victim's children.
I think he's a coward right now. He wants to just get over everything and just say goodbye to everything.
Colwell is on death row for the 1994 strangulation murder of a Las Vegas tourist.
Colwell himself described it as a joy killing.
It hurt our families very deeply.
If executed, Colwell will be the first Nevada inmate to die of lethal injection in three years.
But he can still put a stop to the process right up to the last minute.
He can put it in the state up until the time that the final dosage comes in.
Now, a federal judge has already stated that he would grant a stay to Colwell if he asked for one.
But as of right now, the prison staff say that they're moving ahead with the execution.
Now, of course, we're going to stay on scene and bring you the latest developments in our special 9 p.m. newscast.
Covering the story live from Nevada State Prison in Carson City, Matt Johnson, Channel 2 News.
And members of the Nevada Coalition Against the Death Penalty will hold a candlelight vigil in protest of today's execution.
The vigil will start at 7 this evening on the opposite entrance to the Nevada State Prison on East 5th Street in Carson City.
The Nevada Coalition Against the Death Penalty is a statewide organization with members from various faith communities
and groups dedicated to human rights, civil liberties, and social justice.
But guilty, that's the verdict for a man accused of killing a homeless woman in a park restroom.
Leslie Carter was found beaten to death February 1979.
Her murder remained unsolved until 2000 when a DNA match was made between blood at the crime scene
and Willie Herman's DNA profile found in a database.
Well, the jury is now in the penalty phase of his trial.
He faces maximum of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
A 41-year-old Reno man has pleaded guilty to stabbing, slashing, and raping his neighbor last November.
Police say the woman walked into her bedroom to go to bed and found Jose Maria Cruz standing there
wearing a ski mask and holding a knife.
In exchange for the guilty plea, prosecutors agreed to drop all other charges against him.
Cruz now faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Sentencing is set for May 19th.
A jury finds Anna Marie Jackson guilty of driving under the influence of marijuana.
She's a driver who collided with a motorcycle officer while he was on his way to another call.
Jackson pulled out of a driveway on Mill Street and into the path of Reno police officer.
Mike Schofield in September of 2002.
While racing to an emergency call, Schofield hit Jackson's vehicle and was killed.
Officer Schofield's family says the guilty verdict is bittersweet.
It's not closed. I'm never going to forget my husband. I'm never going to stop loving him.
I'm never going to stop missing him. It's not closed.
The Schofield family hopes some good will come out of the tragedy,
like making people more aware about the dangers of drug use and driving.
Anna Marie Jackson wept as the verdict was read.
Four supporters walked out of the courtroom in silence shortly after.
Four children are in safe care this afternoon after their father threatened to harm them and himself.
According to authorities, Edwin Severance and his wife Dolly were arrested for child neglect yesterday
after he called social services threatening to harm his kids, again according to investigators.
RPD found Dolly intoxicated in their home and found the house filthy and dangerous for children.
This is all according to their records. The children were taken away and are in care of the social services division.
The Retrack Project getting more financial help to finish the downtown train trench.
U.S. Representative Jim Gibbons announced yesterday that one million dollars in federal funding
has been secured to help build the trench, but it's only a fraction of what is needed for the 15 million dollar project.
Now when we say that, we're talking about the cover that might go over the trench.
City Manager Charles McNeely says the City of Reno will continue to lobby Nevada's congressional delegation
for more money to finish that cover project.
Coming up on Channel 2 News...
Runaway horse had some security officials chasing him down the highway.
Find out how the whole incident began and how he was caught.
And yesterday's storm has left a few clouds around the area here today.
Is there any more punch left in this particular one? I'll have the odds on that coming up right after this.
We'll be right back.
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Now, Mike Alters' exclusive 10.2 forecast.
Mike, just when I got all the skirts out and the open-toed shoes, I need to put them all back.
Yeah, me too.
I was going to say we, but then she's gone.
I am sure glad you walked into that because I was not going there, Bill. I want you to know that.
And actually, you'll be able to get them out for every shoe.
There's some good news for both of my co-lankers here.
If we look on down the line here, this little storm is going to be a pretty quick little shot of post-winter coldness here,
but it does look like we're going to warm things up and clear things out here as we go toward the weekend.
Still plenty of wind up there, loft. You can see those wave clouds,
although they're moving around a little bit and look a little bit ratty.
They're still up there, and we've had fairly interesting day throughout the day today.
Obviously much cooler than we've been, 48 degrees outside right now.
It's just about as warm as we've been all day.
West winds at 18 miles per hour, gusts up to 26, still gusty, but not as strong as the winds we had yesterday, of course.
Relative humidity at 31 percent, barometric pressure at 30.04, and that hasn't moved since we've checked last.
Now, taking a look first of all out into the ocean, this is the center of the low pressure system,
and it's actually started to shear apart a little bit.
The main band, you can see, has pushed well out here, but instead of the core of that low continuing on with it,
it's going to take one more shot, and it's got this little package right there of moisture kind of sliding in underneath it.
It's not a very well organized system, but it is producing a little bit of precipitation in some places.
If you take a look at the pinpoint radar up in the northwestern corner of California right up here,
you can see some showers coming in.
But as I showed you in the first weather, it looks like they're going to kind of come right up to about here,
settle in here probably later this evening, and then back off and disappear as the main majority of the system
breaks up, shears apart, and goes over to the north of us.
So this is what I'm expecting to have happen.
Again, the low is going to pass on by to the north.
We're going to break up the bottom part of that cold front and really shove most of the energy well up to the northeast of us.
We ought to clear our skies out here by tomorrow, keep all the winds well off to the east of us,
and with that we're going to be looking at a return of some real life spring line conditions here.
Tomorrow, northwest winds to 10 miles per hour in the afternoon, fairly light in the morning.
Still may see some clouds up to the north and the northeast, but for the most part, drying things out and gradually warming things back up as well.
30s and 20s across the state for your lows tonight.
Certainly a chilly night. We have a little bit of cold there we've got to get rid of.
And highs tomorrow, while still not as warm as they were a week ago.
You'll see 50s to the 60s as you work your way from east to west, a dare site far warmer than we were today.
Here in Reno tonight, low down about the freezing mark.
You'll see teens and 20s at the lake. High tomorrow, 61 down here in the valley.
So again, a considerable warming from today. That's just about average for the time of year.
You'll see low 50s for the most part around town.
Well, like then, here's what we can expect tonight. Partly cloudy skies, southwest winds to 10, but gusts to 40 on the ridge is 24 for your low.
Then tomorrow should clear most of the clouds out. You'll see mostly sunny skies, light morning winds west to 10 in the afternoon,
50 degrees for your high temperature up at the lake.
Here in the Reno area today, we're going to be looking for partly cloudy skies tonight with decreasing overnight breezes, 10 to 15 miles per hour, 32 for your low.
Tomorrow should see mostly sunny skies. Like I say, maybe a few remnant clouds here and there, but mostly sunny skies.
Warming up to 61 degrees northwest afternoon winds to 10 miles per hour should stay sunny and bail. That should bring a smile to your face.
70 on Sunday, 76 on Monday before we cool things off just a tiny bit going on into Tuesday and Wednesday.
But no more storms that I can see right now. And of course, Thursday, that's the beginning of April.
This is our last crack at March that we can give, I think.
Okay. Thanks, Mike.
Coming up on Channel 2 News.
J.K. Metzger and Garrett Dearborn in St. Louis.
Absolutely. Well, can you tell? We're at the Arch.
Got a big game coming up tonight in Nevada in Georgia Tech. We're going to have a preview coming up in sports.
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Recently, the chefs at the Center for Culinary Development helped me create an entirely new kind of gourmet sandwich.
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The Vatas won nine games in a row and the team is hoping to continue its winning streak with tonight's game, obviously,
and secure a sweet spot in the Elite Eight.
J.K. Metzger and Garrett Dearborn joins us now live from St. Louis with a preview of tonight's game.
Guys getting pretty fired up. First we've got to wait for the University of Alabama Birmingham, Kansas game to get over.
And then the game we're all waiting for, Nevada Georgia Tech.
Absolutely magical. A number three and a number ten.
It's going to be another tough one for the pack. You see Georgia Tech is the highest seeded team left still in the St. Louis region.
Well, what's the Wolf Pack going to face? It's going to be a tough one, that's for sure.
We actually poked around St. Louis a little bit today. We were hanging out over at the arch.
It's the main attraction, but not this week because it's all about the NCAA tournament in the Sweet 16.
For basketball fans here, that means forgetting about the gateway to the West and keeping a close eye on the only team from the West
that's still alive in the big dance, Nevada.
The pack in the Sweet 16 for the first time in school history.
Georgia Tech has been here seven times including the final four in 1990.
Of course that's the year UNLV knocked them out and ended up winning the whole thing.
Now the new kings of Silver State basketball have the chance to send Georgia Tech packing once again.
You know we have some great teams on the West and unfortunately some of those teams, some of the good teams got knocked off by close margins.
But it's great to feel that we're one of the last West Coast teams left.
What's your scouting report on Georgia Tech? Pray.
No, they're talented. The thing that impresses me the most about them is mentally and physically they're a tough, mindless group as I've seen all year.
So the pack up against Georgia Tech tonight in just a little bit. What about Georgia Tech?
Wait a minute, get to that in a minute. Gateway to the West? Team in the West?
Oh yeah, I wrote that.
Did you get the play on words there? Yeah, of course. Okay, we'll get to the preview of Georgia Tech.
We've got to talk about Georgia Tech and the Yellow Jackets. They like to spread the court a little bit.
And they have one of the most explosive back courts in the country.
The Yellow Jackets leading scorer, BJ Elder, 16 points per game. He's pretty good.
But they can really spread the court with their depth. Obviously the Cinderall's are the pack.
Many fans adopting the silver and blue out there. But you know what? The Jackets, they're just not concerned about that.
That's not a concern of ours. That doesn't really affect anything that we do.
We're going to go out and use the same type of game plan as far as defense and just try to go out there and play something smaller.
They're a very good team, man. They're a very aggressive team. They take some very aggressive shots, which hopefully if our defense is good enough, we can capitalize off them.
Maybe get some long rebounds on some of their long periods they take and get out in transition, which we love to do.
Yeah, they love to run and gun on the court. The silver and blue though can play that game as well with Ocasin and Gary Hill Thomas and Kirk Snyder.
The key probably in the paint, Nick Fizikis and that seven foot one center of G-Tex.
Yeah, another key could be Gary Hill Thomas in his defense. He stepped it up big time against Gonzaga in the second round.
They're probably going to need another big performance out of him.
But we're going to have to see what happens in the second round.
They're going to be playing in about two hours from now. Of course, the game you'll see right here on Channel 2.
Garrett and I will have all the highlights postgame reaction coming up after the game.
But for now, from the gateway to the west.
Live in St. Louis, J.K. Metzger and Garrett Dearborn, we'll see you guys after the game.
All right. Thanks, guys. Those two together are dangerous.
They are. They are. At least they have a good time.
Well, picture this. A horse is racing on the road, not on the track. It happened.
How it all began coming up after the break. Thanks for watching Channel 2 News.
Coverage you can count on.
Learn to dance schedule your free dance enrollment class call three five one one seven seven nine.
A suspicious fire destroys most of the historic African-American church.
The fire started yesterday afternoon next to 250 Bell Street in North Reno.
The blaze broke out in the basement spreading to the attic.
The abandoned building was boarded up to keep transients out.
Recognized for its importance in the civil rights movement,
it was listed in the National Registry of Historic Places in 2001.
At that time, it had been used as a homeless shelter after the church sold the building in 1993
and moved its congregation to Sparks.
Well, there's much more news and a special edition of Channel 2 News at nine o'clock tonight, we hope.
The state's first execution in three years is scheduled for tonight in Carson City.
That may all change.
We'll tell you how the vigils and the protests are taking place tonight, regardless.
All that immediately following NCAA basketball.
You may soon get a chance to once again see the Statue of Liberty up close and personal.
National Park officials told Congress yesterday that the Statue of Liberty will reopen to the public shortly.
The Secretary of Interior will make the announcement official in the near future.
Lady Liberty has been closed to visitors since the September 11th terrorist attacks.
Finally this afternoon, some security officials in San Francisco led on a wild horse chase.
It happened yesterday when a horse bucked his jockey and then ran through a wooden arm gate.
The horse galloped down a highway as track security officials chased him.
Look, normally you'd say, boy, he's off to the races, but he's coming from the races.
The horse was eventually slowed down, subdued, taken back to the track, I don't know, put on some kind of tranquilizer.
He suffered superficial wounds, needed a few stitches.
The vets say he should be fine to race again in about two months.
I know, he just wanted to see the Golden Gate like anybody else did.
No, he didn't.
He was just horsing around.
Oh, man!
Sorry.
Anyway, whole new meaning to racing against a Mustang.
There goes our audience.
Okay.
Yeah, well, all right.
Hopefully you'll be back at 9 o'clock, because we'll see you then.
Enjoy watching the games.
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